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LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Cyclist resentment not warranted, deserved

The vast majority of cyclists are responsible and considerate. A few aren’t. And the vast majority of drivers are considerate of other drivers and cyclists. Thank you.

What’s amazing, though, is the hostility of a few individuals toward cyclists. Recently, a man, seeing my wife with her bike, out of the blue told her that if he meets a car while crossing a yellow line to pass a cyclist, he will drive into the cyclist to avoid a head-on collision. Scary.

My son-in-law, in a bike lane, was followed and intentionally driven off a road. My brother-in-law crashed his bike on a bike path because he was chased by a car on it.

Remember the individual or individuals who spread tacks onto the Seattle To Portland Bicycle Classic roadway?

One refrain is that cyclists should “obey the rules of the road.” Look at drivers speeding on I-5, who do rolling stops at stop signs, cut into ferry lines, or talk or text while driving, which is as dangerous as drunk drivers — texting drivers are over 20 times more dangerous than regular ones. The horrible fatal accidents recently have been caused by drivers not “obeying the rules of the road,” not cyclists.

So, are you angry at cyclists? Then maybe try it sometime. For example, you’ll see that the shoulders are often full of broken glass from bottles tossed out of drivers’ windows, or that you can’t ride there because of the rumble strips to protect drunk, texting and spacey drivers.

You’ll see sometimes we are in the middle of a lane because that’s the only safe place — drivers get flipped off after angrily honking their horns, which is terrifying, even though you are either riding safely or doing nothing more than being annoying.

Mostly, you’ll be shocked at how many drivers of 4,000 to 8,000 pound vehicles disobey traffic laws and could kill your family.

You are not at risk from a cyclist. Instead, give a prayer each time a member of your family gets into a car.

Our differences as cyclists and drivers are few, but our common interests are great — those few drivers who create danger to us all on our roads.

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